Defamation is when someone knowingly makes untrue and harmful statements about another person. These statements can damage their reputation, their standing in the community and other aspects of their life. The person making those statements must understand that they are not true at the time, meaning they are intentionally lying to cause harm.
There are two main ways that this can happen, which are known as slander and libel. The main difference is that libel typically refers to something that has been written down, whereas slander refers to a spoken statement. Before the invention of the printing press, most defamation qualified as slander, but that has changed over the years.
The modern era
Today, it is not just the printed word that can count as libel. It tends to be anything that has a more permanent nature. For instance, if someone makes disparaging remarks on a podcast or a recorded radio broadcast, it may still qualify as libel, even though it is something they said and not something they wrote down. The permanence of it—because other people could listen to that radio broadcast or podcast in the future—takes it a step further than slander.
Similar considerations have to be made when things are written on social media. People often refer to the comments they make on social media websites as things that they “said.” But for the purposes of defamation lawsuits, these comments are written down and published on a public website, which typically means they would qualify as libel.
Either way, defamation can cause significant harm. Those involved need to understand all of their legal options at this time.
